"Alright. Who wants some? Who's next? Huh? How 'bout it?
Who wants some? Huh? Who wants to have a little?" - Ash
The Evil Dead 3
Army of Darkness
Double Disc Presentation
Year of Release - 1992
DVD Release - Anchor Bay Entertainment UK - 2002
Region 2 - PAL - Rated 18
Running Time - Disc 1 77:06 - Disc 2 92:00
Director: Sam Raimi
Starring: Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz, Marcus Gilbert, Ian Abercrombie, Richard Grove.
Music: Joe LoDuca
After after the successful Evil Dead II, Dino De Laurentis commissioned Sam Raimi and Co. to film another sequel. At one stage, titled The Medieval Dead because of it's setting, it was later dubbed Army of Darkness for it's release. I would assume that it's connection to The Evil Dead was intentionally omitted from the title to attract a wider audience. And rightfully so, because this movie is vastly different to the previous Evil Dead films.
SYNOPSIS - "Buckle up Bonehead. 'Cause you're goin' for a ride!" - Ash
At the end of Evil Dead II our reluctant hero, Ash (Campbell), is sucked though a time-vortex to medieval England. Taken prisoner by Lord Arthur (Gilbert), Ash meets fellow prisoner Henry the Red (Grove) and they are dragged in chains back to Henry's castle. Sheila (Davidtz) asks Arthur if her brother has returned, but he tells her that her brother faught valliantly, but fell in battle with Henry's men. Believing Ash to be one of Henry's, she spits on Ash and slaps him around a little.
Arthur condemns his prisoners to be thrown into "The Pit" - of which houses a Deadite - part of the evil that has begun to plague the lands. After winessing the bloody demise of one of Henry's men, Ash is thrown into the Pit. The Wiseman (Abercrombie), believing that Ash is "the Chosen One" assissts him by throwing Ash's Chainsaw down the pit with him.
After defeating the Deadites in the Pit and scaring the hell out of the people with his "Boomstick", the Wiseman is convinced that Ash is the Chosen One, but Arthur is still sceptical. Sheila (Davidtz) falls for Ash, although Ash is not quite as forgiving, he falls for her too.
To get Ash back to his own time and also to rid the land of the Deadites, the Wiseman sends Ash on a quest to retrieve the Necronomicon from it's resting place in the Cemetary. Before he can remove the Necronomicon, Ash must recite the words, "Klaatu Barrada Nikto", otherwise a great evil will be awoken.
On the way, Ash is chased by the "evil force" and he takes refuge in a Windmill. He is assaulted by an army of "Little Ash's". One of them jumps down his throat and Evil Ash (also Campbell) is born. Ash blasts Evil Ash in the face with his Remington and buries him.
Ash reaches the Cemetary, fails to recall the words, but takes the Necronomicon anyway. Evil Ash rised from the grave and "lives" again!
Evil Ash rounds up the Army of the Dead and prepares to assault the castle to retrieve the Necronomicon, but first he sends one of his winged minions to kidnap Sheila to make her his Queen.
Can the cowardly Ash rally Arthur's men, defeat the Army of Darkness and save Sheila? Or will the Deadites recover the Necronimicon and plague the world for eternity?
VIDEO - "I 'aint that good!" - Ash
The tranfer is in 1.85:1 , enhanced for 16:9 TVs, but is taken from a VHS master, as with all of Anchor Bay's Army of Darkness releases. Even the added benefit of a PAL transfer cannot save many aspects of this transfer. Sometimes the image is really bad.
AUDIO - "Oh that's just what we call pillow talk, baby, that's all." - Ash
Disc 1 has three Audio channels; Dolby Surround 2.0, Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS. Disc 2 has the same, plus the Audio Commentary in Dolby Surround 2.0.
EXTRAS - "Well hello Mister Fancypants!" - Ash
DISC 1
US Theatrical Cut - 77:06
This cut of the film was what was released in Cinemas in the United States. I will comment on this further later.
Featurette - The Men Behind the Army - 19:00
This is a very good featurette on the making of Army of Darkness. Narrated by Bruce Cambell, it mainly features the guys from KNB Studios, plus it has video footage featuring Sam Raimi from the set of the movie.
Original Ending - 04:28
This original ending begins where the Wiseman gives Ash the potion to get back to his own time. It's a darker and more Apocalyptic ending than the Theatrical ending. It is of very poor video quality.
Trailer - 01:55
This original theatrical trailer is pretty good and is of varying video quality.
Biographies - Sam Raimi & Bruce Campbell
These are very good Biographies and Filmographies of the Director and Star of Army of Darkness.
DISC 2
Director's Cut - Bruce Campbell vs. Army of Darkness - 92:00
This is the cut that Sam Raimi prefers. I will comment on this further later.
Audio Commentary - Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell & Ivan Raimi
As with all of Sam & Bruce's commentaries, this is a very funny, but informative commentary. Along with the Evil Dead II commentary, this is one of the best ones in all of DVD-dom.
Deleted Scenes
These deleted scenes can be viewed with or without commentary by Sam Raimi and Bruce Cambpell. All of these were taken from a video of a work print, so the quality of these are terrible.
- Original Opening - 02:56 - The origninal opening was a lot darker and spookier than the one that was eventually used. it utilises a lot more footage from Evil Dead II and it suits the original ending a lot better, too. This is of extremely poor video and audio quality.
- Ash Confronts Arthur - 02:00 - This scene is quite good and sets up Ash's hatred of Arthur, but assumingly it was cut for time reasons. This is of extremely poor video and audio quality.
- Original Windmill Scene - 06:18 - A lot sppokier and reminiscent of the first Evil Dead film, this scene featured Ash leaving the Windmill and searching the forest. He then sees himself standing in the door of the Windmill. Ash runs in to confront the figure, but crashes into the mirror. Cut purely to quicken the pace of the film, I'm sure, but is fantastic. This is of extremely poor video and audio quality.
- Ash Recruits Henry the Red - 02:53 - After Arthur's men pledges allegiance to Ash, this scene sees Ash searching for Henry the Red in an attempt to recruit him and his men to the cause. This is of extremely poor video and audio quality.
Storyboards
This is a very good feature. As a subtitle track, this has a small storyboard picture in the bottom right corner of the screen to correspond with what is on screen.
Creature Concept Drawings
Several stills of concept art.
OVERALL - "Hail to the king, baby!" - Ash
The Evil Dead is a Horror with a touch of Comedy. Evil Dead II is a Horror/Comedy. Army of Darkness is an Action/Adventure/Comedy. Dropping the "audience unfriendly" burden of a Horror movie, and indeed The Evil Dead in the title, enabled Army of Darkness to reach a wider audience. What they found however that the mass audience didn't like the main character, Ash. Much like Jack Burton in Big Trouble in Little China, Ash is not your typical movie hero. Clumsy, abraisive and cowardly, Ash was a hard character for them to become attatched to, especially if they hadn't seen the previous Evil Dead films. As such, the film did not do very well at the box office.
But don't let that put you off. Army of Darkness, while still having flaws, is a minor classic of a film. Sure, the Medieval England in the film looks remarkably like the arid regions of California. Sure, the special effects look "primitive" by today's standards. But considering it's pedigree, it's budget and the intended "good-fun" feel of the film, these flaws are forgiven very quickly and you go on to enjoy the film immensely. And if you don't enjoy Army of Darkness, then you'd have to be an extremely pretentious film critic, have a heart of stone, or you are lying.
This Region 2 DVD is identical to Anchor Bay's Region 1 previously out-of-print 2-Disc Special Edition, which has now been re-issued under the name of the "Boomstick Edition". Anchor Bay also sells each disc in this edition seperately. Disc 1 can be purchased under the name Army of Darkness. Disk 2 can be purchased under the name Army Of Darkness: Official Bootleg Edition.
Viewing the US Theatrical cut for the first time, I was shocked. It differed vastly to the cut on the Australian Theatrical Cut and indeed the VHS copy that I've had for years. Dino De Laurentis insisted on cuts to Sam Raimi's original cut for the film. He requested a more up-beat ending and tightened the movie up a little. But compared to the Director's Cut of the film found on the Second Disc of the DVD, it's little wonder why Americans love the Directors Cut a lot more. The Australian cut of the film is a mix between the US Theatrical and the Directors Cut. It has everyting that the Directors Cut has, including the vastly superior "I ain't that good" line, but the more "enjoyable" S-Mart ending. Plus the Australian cut has the scene where Evil Ash tears down the top of Sheila's dress before he kisses her, which this DVD and indeed all of Anchor Bay's versions of Army of Darkness misses. Be sure to read my Army of Darkness Region 3 review...
One thing that the US Theatrical cut has over the Director's Cut is that Henry the Red arrives on the scene a lot earlier in the final battle. This makes mores sense and it makes Henry's arrival more significant. Henry's earlier arrival also is in the Australian cut of the film.
If and when Army of Darkness is released on DVD in Australia, it will be interesting to see which version it is.
Bruce Campbell, again hits the ball out of the park with his portrayal of Ash and the rest of the cast are fabulous as well. They get the joke and play their roles very seriously which highlights the character of Ash.
With an over-the-top main character and an over-the-top story, Army of Darkness is one of the most oft quoted films of all time. It has a well deserved cult status and is often an entry point into people viewing The Evil Dead and consequently other Horror pictures.
This Region 2 DVD collection (along with the Region 1 releases) is very good, with excellent extras. However the picture quality is not the best and the Directors Cut is not uncut.
If you haven't seen "The Ultimate Experience in Medieval Horror" yet, then what are you waiting for?
The Film: 
The Disk:
"Dark Lord" Paul Lenkic
"Accept the Lord of Darkness as your saviour!" - The Undertaker
© 2002